I could quite easily use up this entire page to enlighten you about the current brilliance of IMG sport, but we should be focusing on something that can be made even better for students of future generations.
Although the IMG netball competition is running smoothly at present, there are still many problems relating to the football and rugby leagues.
Severe weather conditions throughout the year have caused the Pontcanna pitches to become too boggy and unsafe for play during the winter months, leading to a large number of cancelled fixtures. As a result of all this disruption, IMG football was completed on the last day possible, while the rugby league stage remained unfinished.
One possible solution is to play IMG football and rugby matches on the planned rubber crumb pitch. This would mean that all matches would go ahead as scheduled and disruption to the fixture list would be minimised.
AU President James Woodroof endorses this idea, although he acknowledges that changes need to be made to accommodate both BUSA and IMG sport on the rubber crumb pitch.
He commented: “If IMG players were offered a guaranteed game every week, they’d bite my hand off. If that [opportunity] is taken away by the weather, everyone’s a loser.
“The [football] competition may need to be adjusted slightly, we can either have 60-minute games or IMG all day on weekends. But I must stress that these plans relate to the potential future for IMG.”
Ultimately, the question is whether IMG football enthusiasts would be willing to reduce the length of matches in order to get a guaranteed game every week. Moreover, the traditional Wednesday afternoon slot has become synonymous with IMG over the years. I can’t imagine the atmosphere will be the same if all fixtures are spread out over a weekend.
You also have to bear in mind that the rubber crumb facility might not be available on weekends. The pitch might have to be used for rearranged BUSA matches or training sessions, while the university might decide to take bookings from the public to make the facility profitable.
There is little doubt that the standard of football, and rugby for that matter, and improve on the rubber crumb pitch. But there is plenty of doubt surrounding whether the scenario is feasible.
In addition, the issue of refereeing must to be resolved. Firstly, IMG rugby has experienced major problems in securing the regular services of fully-qualified officials.
Due to health and safety concerns regarding lineouts and scrums in particular, all referees must be fully trained to take charge of adult rugby matches.
Head of Rugby Martyn Fowler spoke about the difficulties of recruiting these referees. He said: “As the IMG programme is an Interschool College league it will never receive match officials with any regularity.”
Fowler tried to solve this problem at the beginning of the season by organising a refereeing course for 28 IMG rugby players. But the scheme was largely unsuccessful, as only two players went on to complete a subsequent competency programme, which was compulsory.
“The only problem with IMG [rugby] is how we make it safe for students,” added Fowler. “Until we can guarantee student safety I don’t feel that time restrictions should be put on addressing any potential problems.”
If more students can be encouraged to follow the competency programme next season, IMG rugby will reap the benefits.
Finally, there have been problems regarding the introduction of neutral officials in IMG football.
At the start of the year, approximately 16 people signed up to become a referee and got paid £10 per match. However, around half of these volunteers dropped out before the end of the season.
Neutral referee John Rees explained a possible reason for this and said: “People probably dropped out because some of the teams aren’t friendly and give a lot of abuse.
“Overall I enjoyed doing it. You never stop learning and each game was different. All teams were friendly to me. I would do it again next year.”
This is a very encouraging sign for the future of IMG football. Perhaps next year’s referees should be paid more, and I firmly believe a society like Refsoc should be set up to increase solidarity among officials.
AU President Woodroof added: “I think it’s really important to have neutral IMG referees. Hopefully, with experience, the standards of refereeing will improve in years to come. They deserve a fair wage for the service they provide and it’ll be a good investment from the AU to pay them more. IMG needs to be invested in.”
There’s certainly no reason why the university shouldn’t invest in the future of IMG. An estimated 1,000 Cardiff students play IMG sport every year in three different disciplines.
You’re talking about 1,000 students that are participating in sport and keeping fit every Wednesday afternoon. If that’s not a good cause, I don’t know what is.
